NOT TO BE MISSED! Tour de Farm NOT TO BE MISSED! Tour de Farm

For more information call 518-692-7285 and to register go to www.bikereg.com and click on Tour de Farm.

Create a cycling weekend adventure and combine Tour de Farm with the Cambridge Valley Cyclist’s Century Ride on September 29th. Visit www.bikecvc.org for details.

For weekend accommodations package opportunity visit www.visitbattenkillvalley.com

BIKE ON!

We are only as old as we feel... We are only as old as we feel...

Until yesterday, if you asked me to jump out of a perfectly good airplane, I would have said, “that is crazy.” And to jump out of said same aircraft with my, soon to be, 85 year old mother, Frances, well…

We did it!


(Photos: copyright K. Schonbeck 2007)

One of my mother’s dreams in life was to skydive. Her oldest nephew, Pat, was a paratrooper in WWII, and she was always fascinated by stories of floating to earth on a billowing canopy of cloth.

So in honor of Pat, who passed away a couple of years ago, and our birthdays (I turn 50 this November myself) my mom, eight cousins and me (along with another 20 or so family spectators) went to Sky Dive The Ranch, in Gardiner, NY to experience for ourselves the rush and rewards of making “the jump.”

I had heard about this place from, Jack, of Jack’s Outback fame, who made a jump along with a host of other Cambridge area residences a couple of months ago. Listening to his story and hearing that a 90+-year-old woman made the jump at The Ranch, got me thinking that maybe this could happen for my mom; so I asked her. Without one iota of hesitation, she exclaimed, “sign me up!”

Imagine, you leave the relative safety of a plane at 14,000 feet and plunge to earth at 120mph, freefalling for 7000 feet before the parachute deploys and you glide quietly to earth on a colorful canopy. On the way down we floated past and through giant billowy clouds, which was a great highlight of the adventure. The whole thing was at once, a surreal, and a hyper-real experience.

When asked if we would do it again, I said, “perhaps” whereas Mom answered with a resounding, “YES!”

NOT TO BE MISSED! Studio Open House NOT TO BE MISSED! Studio Open House

Nancy Bariluk-Smith is hosting an Open House at her studio in Salem, NY this Saturday. This is a great opportunity to get to see an artist's workspace, experience their art, meet and get to know them all in one place! And... did I mention... there will be food!

The Open House is located at 123 Gillis Hill Lane, Salem, NY and Nancy can be reached at 518-854-9566 if you have any questions.

(Travel Directions) From Salem traffic light go 1 mile north on route 22. Make left on Gillis Hill Lane, studio is on left near top of hill.

Go, see great work, have fun!

NOT TO BE MISSED! Cheese Tour NOT TO BE MISSED! Cheese Tour

If you like cheese as much as I do, you will not want to miss this self-guided tour of farmstead and artisan cheeses. Washington County is fast gaining a reputation as the regional center for excellence in cheese making.

All farms are within a 20 mile radius. And, as always, the scenery is spectacular!

For more information contact Sandy Buxton 518-746-2560 or 1-800-548-0881
www.cheesetour.blogspot.com

Photographer's Log Photographer's Log

Photo: (Copyright Mohan 2007)

Season’s Progress

Oh, these last Spring and Summer seasons have passed me by so quickly. Due to some health problems I wasn’t able to spend much time watching the gentle progress of my Valley moving from one season to another. This is the first time in eight years I’ve missed it. But, I did get out last week in time to see the slow turnover from Summer to Autumn.

The fields are beginning to turn their yearly shades from tan to reddish gold as their crops reach final maturity. Now begins my favorite time in Cambridge Valley: HARVEST. Apples are crisp on the branches; corn stalks are bleaching out from lush green to shades of yellow and beige; soy bean leaves tinge with reddish-gold; tomato leaves curl with frigid night air leaving plump, deep-red globes fully exposed, shouting their harvest-ready presence for all to see. The air becomes pungent with ripe crops, wild grasses and flowers. Everywhere all growing things are bursting forth with the last of their potency, before the inevitable blanket of Winter muffles the voice of growth. It is as if they know now is the time to give everything to their lives because soon they will sleep, and some will be no more.

We human beings are much like this. We carry on in our daily lives, not fully aware of the act of living, until something confronts us making our mortality finite in a way we’ve never experienced. Suddenly we, like September’s vegetation, start living with a gusto we’ve never practiced, ripening to a level of existence once unknown, but now so savored and cherished.

I once thought we human creatures fools to spend our time just inhabiting our lives with a simple daily appreciation, rather than draining each day dry. After a time I realized if we lived each day in a frenzy we would burn out quickly, shortening those very lives we so treasure.

What would it be like if the plants put it all out there in the first month? They would die out quickly, leaving us in barrenness and starvation. No, nature understands it all. Life is for living in gentle, slow progress. Each day is all that there is, yes, but living is not trying to outrace death. It is knowing there is an inevitable end to the state of life, but not dwelling on it. Living is confidently confronting each day on it’s own terms, knowing you’ve done your best, and, hopefully, finding sweetness and peace within to regain what wholeness you will need for the next “today”.

Even nature’s growing things harbor that “abandon to reason” until the moment they can let it all free, in keeping with their seasons. And, when their passing times come the vegetation is spent, nothing left. The vigorous greens become beige and brown. They took life in its inherent day-to-day pace and gave it their all at the end.

How lovely to me is this ear of silage corn, growing and drying out upon it’s fading stalk. A strong presence defining life to all who view it. It’s simple existence on South Cambridge Road marking the passing of another Cambridge Valley season. This is now one of my favorite photographs. Autumn is nearly upon us. The abandon of nature is beginning to transpire. Hopefully I’ll be out enjoying the beauty all season and so, also, will you.-June Mohan

To contact the artist, please send email to: junemohan@hotmail.com.

Milestone! Milestone!

Photo: John Carlson 2007

Dear CambridgeBuzz Readers,

Over the course of the evening, CambridgeBuzz passed a milestone with over 20,000 hits! That is pretty impressive for a small town journal like ours!

This has been, mainly, a labor of love, and your logging on to read our posts is the main fuel keeping this journal going!

On behalf of the Buzzwave team: Debra Pearlman, Hilary McLellan, Roger Wyatt and me, along with Bloggers: June Mohan (Photographer's Log), Sean McEntee (Extreme Gardening), Jon Katz (Musings), Don Goddard (ArtNYC), Jack Metzger (Jack's Outback), and Katy Schonbeck (Movement Meditations) we want to thank you for your time and interest reading this blog and exploring what is happening in this wonderful Village of Cambridge, NY and it's surrounding areas.

Looking forward to hearing from you more! Your comments, posted in the comment sections, are always, really appreciated!!!!

We also want to invite anyone with a special interest to consider doing a thread for CambridgeBuzz. Please drop me an email with your ideas. We would love to have you onboard. jdcarlson2001@yahoo.com.

Cambridge Life 9/5/2007 Cambridge Life 9/5/2007

There's a new place in town! Well, not exactly new, but refurbished and reopened. I'm talking about the Cambridge Hotel home to the original apple pie a la mode.

The Hotel hosted an open house for local residents and over 700 people stopped by to celebrate. Neighbors enjoyed tasty treats and a tour of the Hotel's 17 guest rooms. Each room is individually appointed. Rates vary depending on whether In Season (May 25-October 23) or Off Season (October 24-May 24). For reservations or information on room rates call 518-677-5686 or visit www.cambridgehotel.com

I celebrated the end of summer with co-bloggers and friends John Carlson and Katy Schonbeck. We checked out the newly open Bistro Lounge & Tavern located in the former banquet rooms and bar of the Hotel.

First let me say that the Hotel looks grand! We were greeted warmly and seated right away. Executive Chef Jason Evans has created a menu varied enough to appeal to everyone. Entrees such as Grilled Yellow Fin Tuna "BLT" for $12, a grilled sirloin burger or Angel Basil pasta for $9, and Shrimp and Grits (a house specialty) for $21 appeal to all tastes and pocketbooks.

We shared an appetizer of steamed mussels ($10) that was just right for the 3 of us. The Thai-style coconut milk sauce was so yummy, we had to "sop it up" with dinner rolls. Only thing I would change in that dish is to use Thai basil or cilantro instead of the parsley as a garnish.

My special request (the burger on a bed of house salad greens, no bacon, no cheese, no fries) was easily accommodated. Katy went for the Smoked Salmon Salad ($13), John had the burger with sweet potatoes fries. Both greatly enjoyed their meals and Katy even finished the entire plate without help from her friends.

The dessert menu still has the famous Apple Pie a la mode as a standard item, but we chose to have the bread pudding. Both Katy and I liked the fact that the dessert was not too sweet and perfect with our after dinner coffee. John missed the sweetness usually found in bread puddings.

Although every table was full, the service was spot-on and always friendly. My water glass was never below half full, the mix-up on my salad dressing was quickly righted. It was good to see all the locals out enjoying one of our town's best assets.

In the next few weeks the Fine Dining Restaurant will be opening. It will offer culinary treats with traditional full service surroundings and a constantly changing three course prix fixe menu.

Both the Bistro Lounge and Fine Dining Restaurant will use locally grown, seasonal products, which supports our local farmers and reinforces our agricultural heritage.

The Bistro is open every evening and features moderately priced items, vegetarian options, and a children's menu. As with any good neighborhood restaurant, there is a Tuesday Night Family Buffet.

The Fine Dining Restaurant is open from Wednesday - Sunday evenings.

Stop in and have a drink or enjoy dinner at the newly reopened Cambridge Hotel , the Home of Apple Pie a la Mode

Movement Meditations #1 Movement Meditations #1

We are pleased here at the CambridgeBuzz to announce a new thread “Moving Meditations,” written by Katy Schonbeck.

Katy, a local performance artist, is offering a dance class by the same name at Hubbard Hall this fall. She feels that learning to accept and love the body we have, rather than battling with our bodies to make them something they are not, is essential to overall health.

Her students will be using these postings during the week as part of the class. Anyone, whether they are in the class or not, is welcome to try out what she calls “thought experiments” -short movement activities followed by a written reflection.

If you decide to take the class or try some of the activities on your own, Katy invites you to share thoughts and experiences here on the blog.

Katy Schonbeck holds a BA in Dance and Mathematics from Bennington College and an M.Ed from MCLA. She has been teaching and performing for twenty plus years. Katy offers this class, "Moving Meditation," through the Hubbard Hall Dance Program.



9/3/07 Moving Meditations

Having a body, as we all do, is not always an easy experience. After a day of seeing media images of people I will never look like, rummaging through the clothes I don’t fit into anymore, promising myself to get on that bike today and then berating myself when I inevitably don’t, seeing the scale dial creeping in the wrong direction- its clear that the current relationship I have with my physical self is not working for either of us.

I am not sure that I am prepared to abandon a socially accepted practice of being uncomfortable in my own skin. I am also not willing to accept feeling sick or tired. I still think signing up for membership at the Cambridge Gym is a good idea. My plan is fine; I just need a different approach to implementing it.

I am on the hunt for ways to put down the big sticks I haul around to scare myself into fitness with, and replace them with genuine personal care and caring. For the next two months, I invite you to join me in exploring some alternate experiences of self. I will be posting simple activities to try and reflect on.

Try out the experiments. Respond here on the blog, via email ktscho@gmail.com, by journaling and through conversations with other experimenters. I look forward to hearing from you!
-Katy



Moving Meditation
Thought Experiment #1

Do some activity that involve moving- go for a walk, mow the lawn, put away the laundry, roll your shoulders, wiggle your fingers, anything that involves engaging your body. During this activity, suspend all judgment on your experience of your body. This means not assigning ANY aesthetic value (good/bad, ugly/beautiful, graceful/clumsy) to the activity itself, to your experience of the activity or to anyone else’s experience of the activity. Its okay to feel things (in fact that’s the point!) like boredom or energy, relaxed muscles or achy ones. What you are putting aside is the habit of deeming those feelings as desirable or not.

Make a metal note of what you observe, then let it go. If you start to think/say “I’m too…..” or “I should be…” say “I am ______”.and fill in the blank with an observation and let it go. Replace descriptors that are personally loaded; e.g. a flat stomach = beautiful stomach in my lexicon, so I will replace flat/not flat with temperature words (warm, cool, hot) and internal sensation words (full, gurgly, disconnected, numb, engaged).

This is an experiment- not a diet, not a life change. You’re not fixing broken parts of yourself. You are asking a question. “What is it like to be me in this body separate from the experience of rating myself?”. You are paying particular attention to what and how you feel in a state of suspended judgment.

Record your observations. I keep a journal by my bed and take 5 minutes in the morning or before going to sleep to jot down my experience.

Further Exploration (for the A-obsessed,.over-achievers in the crowd): If you are around other people extend the suspension of judgment to include them- observe what they look like and how they move and don’t move. Don’t decide if they are beautiful or out of shape or clumsy or talented. Let go of feelings of being judged by others by remembering that what other people think of you is none of your business.